Sony Corporation today announced "OpenMG X", a digital rights
management and distribution technology which is utilized
for various types of products and devices. This technology
will play a key role as the market for music and movie content
downloaded via the Internet expands.
"OpenMG X" flexibly adapts to the distribution of content
to PCs, as well as services which distribute content directly
to AV and mobile devices. With this technology, the usage
conditions for content can be controlled from the distributor's
end and hence, content distribution can be secured from
the beginning to the end of the service. This technology
will be promoted widely to music labels and other music/content
distribution companies to use as a core technology for protecting
their content.

In future, the following capabilities will be required for
DRM (Digital Rights Management) in expanding the digital
content distribution business.
1. Flexibility to accommodate various distribution methods,
such as the Internet and packaged media
2. Adoption to various content (music, video, etc.)
3. Installation not only on PCs, but also on networked devices
such as PlayStation 2, AV devices, and mobile devices

Therefore, Sony has created "OpenMG X", a DRM technology which meets the requirements above and which provides total support from the content distributors' side to the end-users' devices.

"OpenMG X" consists of the following software modules;
1. An encoding module which adds digital rights management
information, such as the number of times content was copied
or played, to music/movie content and converts them into
code at the distributors' end.
2. A server module which distributes digital rights management
information on content to the users' end.
3. Client module for developing application software compatible
with "OpenMG X" Sony has put the client module (#3) into
practice and created "MAGIQLIP", the network music player
for PC.

"OpenMG X" will be applicable with a widening variety of
network connected devices, including PCs and OpenMG related
products such as Memory Stick products and Net MD products
that have already been sold more than 10 million units worldwide,
as well as PlayStation 2 which has been sold more than 30
million units worldwide.

This will provide content holders and distributors with
the bigger opportunities to widen the ways of secure content
distribution to various devices while consumers will enjoy
more entertaining and exciting content, which will enlarge
and vitalize the entire digital content distribution market.

Label Gate Co. Ltd, will soon start a new music distribution
service compatible with MAGIQLIP, using "OpenMG X" technology.
Furthermore, in the United States, pressplay and other companies
who distribute music over the Internet are considering future
distribution services which utilize "OpenMG X".

Sony believes in "OpenMG X" as an open platform technology
that should support the secure distribution of content,
and we are now considering licensing this technology to
hardware manufacturers and software vendors.

As both a hardware manufacturer and content/service provider,
Sony aims to connect content producers and end users in
providing range of services that distribute high-value content
in a secure environment.

Sony's Digital Rights Management Technology Efforts
Sony has been a leader in creating various technologies
("MagicGate", "OpenMG") which protect content copyright
by preventing illegal copies being made on the end-user's
devices. We have introduced a number of products, compatible
with these technologies, to the market. In 1999, we developed
a technology called "MagicGate", which is used to mutually
authenticate PCs and portable audio players and to prevent
illegal copying when contents are transferred from one to
the other, using the semiconductor recording media, "Memory
Stick". Sony has commercialized several products including
the Network Walkman which are compatible with this technology.
At the same time, "OpenMG Jukebox", a content compression,
management, and playback technology installed in PCs, has
been developed to restrict illegal copying of music content
from CDs and the Internet. This application is pre-installed
in VAIO and is compatible with Sony's portable audio players.
Furthermore, in May 2001, Sony announced "OpenMG Light",
a digital rights management and distribution system for
mobile products such as cellular phones and PHS phones.
Sony also aims to energize the music download service market
with "Net MD", a system which transfers music content from
PCs to MD players through a high speed USB cable, while
restricting illegal copying of music content.